r o m u l u s
by Awaken the Aeon
Summary: PG-13  AU. While Ezio is watching a Romulus ceremony, it is interrupted by the springing of a trap, and when the wolf in the trap reads blue, he decides to intervene. Possible Leonardo x Ezio content in the future, though I say this tenatively.
1. CRIMSON

**. A U T H O R ' S | N O T E ; **This is my first time ever writing fanfiction, let alone Assassin's Creed fanfiction, so bear with me if it's absolutely horrible. XD AC: Set in Roma, Brotherhood-based, no spoilers for Revelations. Will upload more regularly on my deviantART, WWotS. Comments and critiques very widely welcomed. 3 PG-13, for blood and violence and all of that good stuff that makes a fanfiction fun. Kidding, kidding. x3

**. r o m u l u s .  
><strong>_- . c r i m s o n . -_

Where else could the so-called "wolf-people" get the pelts that they wore so boldly?

It should have known better; it really should have, and that much it knew. So many of its brothers and sisters, lost to such traps after being unable to staunch the curiosity that was always awakened by their ceremonies and promising calls. Now, as they looked toward the sound of its yelp as the trap tightened around its leg, it wished it hadn't ignored the signs.

Though his robes glowed under the full moon, he was barely visible against the alabaster, equally (if not even more so) illuminated stone ruins.

The people of Romulus were… what was the word? Interesting? Amusing? Intriguing? He couldn't explain, though _unique_ was as close (and as simply) as he could get to explaining it. The way they moved during their ceremonies was admittedly a bit hypnotizing. As they circled around the bonfire, the two people on either side of the blaze matched each other step-for-step. The fur that cascaded down their backs glowed under the light of the moon, while their faces burned with the orange light of the fire. They seemed to dance as they moved. Ezio shifted his weight, rolling up from his sitting position and into a crouch, disliking the vulnerability he felt when he was resting on something other than the balls of his feet. He wondered if the thieves had noticed his absence. Ezio had been sleeping in _La Volpe's_ guild of the late, after finding that the guards had discovered where he normally slept at night. They now had lapsed into the aggravating and uncomfortable habit of stabbing pikes into haystacks and cart loads as they did their rounds.

It took him a moment to realize what sound had pulled him suddenly from his idling thoughts. Lifting his head, blinking, he saw that the people of Romulus had stopped moving, their gazes turned toward the underbrush of the more green section of the ruins beside them.

_A trap?_

Ezio rose, stretching momentarily and took the opportunity to move closer. He crept around the clearing, ducking behind the deteriorating stone pillars and the crumbling granite archways as he went, until he was practically beside the feral horde, barely hidden behind a dangerously thin pillar.

The people, garbed in wolf hides, descended slowly upon the brambles in which the sound had come from, spears at ready. Ezio's eyes turned the color of liquid gold as he used his Eagle Vision, the curiosity spiking in his mind causing him to silently wonder what had been captured.

Ezio recoiled from the use of the sixth sense, withdrawing as if he had been bitten by a snake, suppressing a hiss of surprise. He blinked rapidly a few times, blinding by the violent blue that had blared through the mob of crimson aura. A single figure causing that much light was surprising for Ezio. It had been hard to see much, but he had caught a glimpse of a lupine form.

Animals… they showed up as grey, always. On occasion, the aggressive ones would fade to a dim red, but he had never seen an animal with a blue light, let alone a light this overpoweringly bright. To make sure his vision wasn't fooling him, though he had never happened upon an instance in which it had, he used it again, only to find the same sight.

The spears, pushing away the brambles, revealed a massive black wolf. The wolf was snared by a cord, cutting into the flesh on his leg. A snarl ripped from the creature's chest, the loud sound having the potential to be easily mistaken for a roar of some sort, as the wolf lifted its scarred lip from its gums, white teeth illuminated almost pointedly, threateningly, under the light of the moon. Fresh, pink scars crossed over older maimed tissue. The wolf, even in his vulnerable state, showed no fear, even as the people of Romulus howled their success, apparently at their long-awaited capture of the "elusive beast", (or so their excited cries said) and drew back their spears.

It wasn't afraid of death.

If anything, the creature had long ago accepted it as its brethren died around it, unable to stop the followers of Romulus, these "wolf-people", from taking its family's pelts. So here it was, eyes fierce, the edges of its mind numb from the pain of the trap, darkness encroaching on the borders of its normally sharp and precise vision. It narrowed gaze focused upon the eyes, the _human_ eyes, not those of its brother's head, worn like a cap on the human's head. It gazed into the eyes of its murderers.

Defiance pulsed through it as it stopped growling. No longer did these men and women face a snarling beast, but they faced an eerily calm animal. The radiating dominance that the wolf put out made them flinch backwards momentarily. Tail lifted, head high, and fur standing up, every lupine instinct that the Romulus had developed told them that _this_ was their master and their leader, and for a moment, they obeyed, withdrawing slightly. Then, the lingering nature of the human race lunged forth with the swiftness of a panther, demanding power in a greedy sweep. The mob moved forward. And thus, ignoring the overpowering pain of the sinew cord sinking into its flesh, the dark-furred wolf settled onto its haunches and accepted its fate.

The assassin wasn't sure what was more disturbing: the wolf accepting his death with the ease of an elderly man that knew his time had come, or the people of Romulus acting so quickly and eagerly to kill the species of animal that they identified as family and their roots. Ezio examined the male wolf briefly. An outcast, he guessed, from the scars that sparingly maimed the animal's pelt. Without realizing it, he found his fingers brushing across the scar on his lip as he thought about the life the wolf had probably lived. Due to its rare pelt color, the wolf had undoubtedly lived a hard life so far. Wolves weren't so different from people, and that much he had discovered while watching wolves in the wild. They were prejudiced toward anything different; they hated feeling insecure, and both change and difference brought insecurity. The wolf had probably been rejected by society and childhood for his differences, as… as Ezio had been. Ezio Auditore, the honed assassin and accomplished killer, felt sympathy for the weakened creature snared in the trap.

The first spear struck, sinking deep into obsidian fur, lodging itself in the wolf's back hindquarter, but eliciting nothing but a wince from the animal as the people of Romulus cheered and bayed of their victory. Where the last one had stood to impale the lupine creature drew yet another, spear aimed for the wolf's other haunch. They were… they were torturing their prey. From the looks of it, they were planning on putting spears into non-lethal points until the wolf died of either pain or blood-loss. His sense of righteousness kicked in instantaneously.

Nobody, animal or human, deserved to die like that.

Ezio remembered the man who had declared that all books be burned, and threw an opposing man into the flames for deeming otherwise. He remembered tackling the man, only for him to be swept away by an angry crowd, still alive. He remembered them tying the man to the stake, and lighting the fire beneath him. He remembered scaling the platform and leaping through the rising flame. His fists clenched and unclenched slightly, mind lost within the memory of his hidden blade extending; it was as if he could still feel the blood splashing against his skin as his palm flicked upward, shoving his hidden blade through the man's head, the flames licking greedily at his back.

The thud of stone ripping through flesh and colliding with bone made him flinch, though the black wolf was still silent under the pain. He heard the shuffling of another Romulus follower moving to replace the last, and within moments, he found himself gliding through the air, eyes closed as his instincts guided him; as his instincts guided his hidden blade to the man's throat. Weight alighting perfectly upon his victim's chest, tipping the balance as his blade sliced through the skin of the wolfman with the ease in which a hot knife glides through butter. His tongue ran briefly over his lips, touching the blood that had splattered onto them, opening his eyes as his crimson blade withdrew. He lifted himself into a battle crouch as howls of outrage ripped through the pack.

They lunged at him, daggers and axes flashing for his throat. His hidden blade deflected the first; his bracer, the second, but the third from behind evaded his immediate detection. He had just enough time to sweep around and ward off the attack with his own dagger, and then impale the pelt-cloaked man in the stomach with his hidden blade.

His leather spaulders were grazed from behind, leaving yet another line in the collection of cuts that covered its surfaces, and he whipped around.

The next attack he countered, grabbing an arm and shoving his hidden gun into the human's gut, a sharp crack echoing as the trigger was released. Startled by the sudden noise caused the pack to back away from the assassin, and Ezio pushed the body aside. A cry behind him made him turn yet again, bracer rising to ward off an expected attack. He was met by a man falling toward him, the life fading from his brown eyes, his raised axe falling to the ground as its wielder passed into oblivion. Ezio sidestepped the falling body, wary gaze turning to the people of Romulus before following their paths of sight. Jaws, with an iron grip still locked around the man's calf, were sunk into the vital vein that lay within the leg.

Mutterings of demonic spirits, followed by prayers to Remus to spare them from this brother's wrath, whispered through the crowd behind him as the wolf rose. The handles of the spears that still protruded from his haunches dragged on the bloodied earth. His right paw, still snared above the joint, bore no weight.

Ezio pivoted his body to the mob, hidden blade flashing out threateningly once more, and after a series of snarls and growls, the people of Romulus fled. He turned to the he-wolf, a myriad of _grazie's_ written in his eyes, but the black wolf had already crumpled into the pool of his own blood, his head turned away, breathing labored. Ezio kneeled beside the creature, hands pressing into the wolf's matted fur. What to do…

When he returned wandering gaze to the injured beast, were trained on him all of the sudden, and Ezio suppressed a shiver. The wolf's eyes clouded over and the trapped animal lost consciousness.

Its vision blurred beyond belief and dark around the edges, and its mind, fogged with pain, could not process the events that unfolded before it. Ears clogged with the same blood that now trickled out of them were also of no use; the sounds of battle were dulled out and seemed like, to the wolf, hallucinations of its dying mind; deliriums of a crippled body with confused senses. Only adrenaline and unease of still being alive brought it to its paws. And then, as its waning strength faded, it crumpled helplessly to the ground.

It detected, through the haze in its mind, a human crouching before it, the human's hands pressing into its fur. Its senses, clearing up for a single moment to be able to process something, came to life. And for a single moment, the wild animal looked clearly into the eyes of its savior with a strange, sharp clarity, and then drifted away.

Ezio took the creature into his arms, ignoring the creature's blood on his robes as he did so. He cradled the brave wolf, the back of its neck held gently by the nook of his left elbow. A flick of the wrist drew his hidden blade from its sturdy sheath, and he pressed the tip through the wolf's fur until the tip came to rest on skin. He adjusted the angle of the blade so it would go straight up into the ribcage and into the heart for a painless death.

It was strange, holding another predator here in his arms. As wolves were the predators of the wild, assassin's were the predators of society. Predators of two worlds were here, one supporting the other.

One putting the other out of its misery.

Sympathy crossed Ezio's features as he gazed down upon the black wolf. His blade twitched forward, breaching the skin, but something stayed his blade from delving further. He took a deep breath. He couldn't let sympathy override the fact that the creature was suffering, and would die of blood loss within the hour. He took a deep breath, and pressed the blade forward.


	2. LAPPING COPPER

**. A U T H O R ' S | N O T E ; **Okay, so from the very beginning I solemnly swore to myself that I would not bring Leonardo into this, mainly because BAD THINGS HAPPEN WITH LEONARDO AND EZIO IN THE SAME ROOM. ;D But I decided to, since Leonardo has ample medical experience and the doctors would probably be like "wtf is that and what are you doing with it?". This is what happens when I tell myself I'm not going to do things. It just doesn't work and happens anyway. XD Hope you guys are enjoying it so far. :3 If you notice something strange about the way I'm writing this, I'll have you know that I'm doing it on purpose. Private message me if you think you know, and I'll give you brownie points if you get it right. ^^; Either way, it'll be revealed int he next chapter. :3 Enjoy!

**. r o m u l u s .**

It is one thing to fail a mission and miss a target. Stabbing a target and it still not dying, on the other hand, is a whole other story.

Out of respect, Ezio had waited for it to die, so he could at least say something about the poor soul. It felt right. Every minute or so he checked the heartbeat of the wolf, and every minute he found one.

"_Cazzo_!" he cursed, frustration heavy in his tone. "The damn thing just won't die!"

Of course, it could have wholly been his fault, since he _still_ hadn't had the heart to shove the full length of the blade through; he went as far as he was sure was needed to do the job, and then waited. Here it was, though, bleeding out of its chest now as well, and still living.

If the Brotherhood was guided by religion, he would believe that there had to be a purpose for living; that some higher power, some sort of God, must have plans for this creature. But this wasn't church, and the Brotherhood wasn't guided by religion.

The Brotherhood was guided by the Creed.

Why did the wolf glow such a vibrant blue under the harsh judgment of Eagle Vision? What made this wolf strong enough to resist such pain? What made this wolf accept death so easily, only to not be taken by it?

_Nothing is true, everything is permitted._

Everything is permitted.

It didn't expect to open its eyes ever again. As it faded into darkness, the wolf expected to pass onto the next world, or just… die. Whether or not there was an afterlife was something it didn't exactly want to risk, but thought it would be worth it if there was one.

In fact, when the creature opened its eyes, warm and comforted, it believed that it had woken up in the said afterlife. The first thing it noticed was the sound of a crackling fire, and then the sting of its wounds as it tried to rise. A gentle human voice reached its ears, followed by a hand pressing gently down on its shoulder to push it back into its laying position, caused it to stiffen, lip pulling up into a snarl. Out of instinct, the obsidian wolf's jaws snapped toward the hand, and satisfaction flushed through it as its teeth fell upon the arm, but the pleasant feeling of victory faded as it realized that its jaws clenched not around flesh and bone, but the metal of a bracer. A frustrated growl preceded the wolf lying back on its side, wincing from the pain of its injuries.

It took a moment to examine its new captor, eyes narrowed. The fire behind the man made it more difficult to make out his features, the wolf managed to make out a red sash with a crest around his waist, as well as a sword hanging at his hips. Battle-marked spaulders rested on his shoulders, bearing a red and yellow cape that flaunted an unfamiliar symbol. A hood, with an edge that strangely resembled the beak of a bird, was pulled over the man's head, which was turned away to talk to another.

A different man, a bit less masculine than the first, sat on a bench that was pressed up against the wall, staring at the man in the white robes. He wore mostly gray, with the exception of a bright crimson cape draped around his shoulders, pooling on the bench. His darker outfit was stark in comparison to his golden hair, and on his head he wore a red beret. The creature couldn't help but avert its gaze as the man stared at it with intelligent brown eyes.

Words were exchanged, and the wolf recognized a sound known as laughter, and its ears tipped backward, eyes narrowing. The thought of examining its own form and checking the state of its injuries crossed its mind, and it did this, eyes sweeping downward. Lips curled up in a snarl as its gaze fell upon a white blanket rather than its own fur, the wolf growled and snapped the cloth up in its dangerous teeth, shaking it momentarily to make sure it was dead, and then threw it at the robed man, who caught it and set it on the table beside him. Its legs unfolded as it lifted itself up, unsteadily, only for its back legs to fold the second it put its weight on them. An aggravated growl bubbled from its chest as it made another attempt to rise, only for the robed man's hands to push it gently, but firmly, back down onto the pillow-covered table in which it rested upon. Jaws opened briefly to snap at the hand, but the man's hand closed around its jaws, focusing the wolf's gaze upon his human face.

Defiance rippled through the wolf for a moment longer before it realized that this man was the one who had saved him, and all struggle to free itself from the iron grasp ceased almost instantly. The suspicious, golden, lupine gaze then turned to the other human, and any indecision was vanquished by the surprisingly friendly features. At rest, the wolf relaxed slightly, ears turning as words were exchanged yet again between the two males. It listened for a while before the comforting heat of the fire made resisting sleep too difficult. It felt a blanket slip onto its shoulders as it fell asleep.

"I think your friend is waking."

Ezio's attention turned from the writing of his letter to _La Volpe_ to the stirring animal at the sound of Leonardo's voice. As it made an attempt to rise, he pushed it back down with as little unnecessary force as possible. He couldn't suppress the chuckle that slipped past his lips as the wolf's jaws snapped down on his bracer, the top canines clicking against the plated metal, the teeth of the bottom jaw pressing upward into the spring mechanism of the hidden blade, but doing no damage.

Leonardo watched the beautiful creature examine Ezio, its fierce eyes flicking from his sash, to his armor, and then to his head, and for a moment he hoped that the creature didn't have the strength to leap for Ezio's neck, because _dio_ know that in his insecurity he would if he were given the chance. His mind idly brought up the thought of what the creature must be thinking at the moment, and what emotions he was feeling. It was then that the wolf, almost as if reading his mind, turned his glowing yellow gaze to Leonardo's own brown eyes. The man's lips turned upward in a smile, and he returned the gaze, stare unwavering as he did so. Soon, the wolf looked away.

"Ezio, I think he's more stubborn than you are," Leonardo noted, and laughed as Ezio threw a glare in his friend's direction. Both of their lines of sight returned to the wild animal on the padded table. He seemed to realize all of the sudden that he was covered by the blanket, and decided he didn't like it any more. The wolf ripped the cloth from over him and tossed it at Ezio to examine his wounds.

"I think we've found your twin, _assassino_," the engineer announced lightly as the assassin caught the fabric and set it onto the table. "Though your bark is worse than your bite; his, probably not so much."

The wolf made yet another attempt to rise to his paws and stay there, only for his back legs to immediately fail him and send his form falling once more. Another attempt led to _huff_ from Ezio Auditore, and then assassin firmly pushed the animal back down for the second time, and once again the massive wolf made a move to bite, but Ezio's other hand flashed to the wolf's muzzle, gripping it firmly. Their eyes met, and the wolf's struggle vanished as it went limp upon recognizing him. As their patient settled down and fell into his deep slumber once more, Leonardo shook his head for a moment, and then looked up thoughtfully.

"We should name him Argos," he suggested lightly, smiling. Ezio, not amused by Leonardo's sense of humor, found himself throwing yet another glare at his friend, though it was softer.

"Leonardo, it _bit_ me. How you can compare that _brute_ to a loyal dog from a famous piece of literature, I cannot even being to fathom," Ezio sighed.

"Hey, you saved that 'brute', in case you don't remember," Leonardo pointed out to the other man, shrugging. He was met with no reply, and the blonde man smirked, folding his arms and leaning back against the wall. "Besides, how do you even know 'it's' a male?" the architect asked as he happened upon the curious thought.

If looks could kill, Leonardo would be a smoking smudge on the wall behind him. From that he guessed that the fact that the creature was male was simply an assumption. He was feeling quite playful today, though it was obvious that Ezio didn't share the same enthusiasm as the friend that he regarded as a brother at times, and annoying at others.

Deciding to drop the topic, Leonardo rose and stretched.

"It's getting late… I had best get back to my workshop. If he… _or she_ starts having problems, I trust you can handle him/her?" he inquired pointedly, and was satisfied as Ezio gave him a nod, but the assassin kept his gaze averted. As he headed for the door, the engineer paused to clap his friend on the shoulder, a sigh slipping past his lips. "Don't be so hard on the thing. From what you described, the wolves around here, well, the few that are left, aren't so fond of humans. It'll take a while, but who knows – you may have yourself an Argos in no time." As the man departed and the door closed behind him, Ezio sighed, frowning at the sleeping wolf.

"What will I do with you with you and Leonardo both?" he growled, and pushed his cowl from his face. His hands came together to undo the buckles on his bracers, and he slid them off. Ezio laid the weapons onto the cloth he had set onto the table, and took a seat on the bench, rubbing his temple as he mulled over what to do with the wolf.

A strange creature, it was, and that much was certain. He had examined the body of the Romulus follower that this… _Argos_ had killed before leaving with him in his arms, and had seen that the wolf's teeth had punctured the vein perfectly so that enough blood would flow to kill the man within seconds. That kind of precision wasn't luck. It would have been easier for the wolf to grab and ankle and trip him, but instead this "Argos" had to have lifted his upper body to reach that particular vein in the calf.

This wolf knew how to kill.

Another thing to ponder was why the blue light of the creature was so overpoweringly strong. He checked again, but this time the glow was a bit dimmer due to the fact that the wolf's mind was at rest, but still startling in comparison to the flames of the fire, which was usually the brightest thing in the room when he scanned with Eagle Vision. Before he could come up with an answer, he found himself entering a much-needed rest.

Golden eyes opened to sunlight shining upon its closed lids as the door was opened, creaking slightly as it swung on its hinges. A familiar blonde man entered the room, and then glanced at the bench in which he had sat the night before. Following his gaze, the wolf saw the hooded man sleeping, shoulders hunched and head lowered in his sleep. Worry crossed the man's features as he crossed the room after closing the door behind him, and his hand extended toward the robed man's neck to check his pulse.

The moment the blonde's fingers came within two inches of his neck, he was awake, balled fists opening as his palms turned habitually upward, before realizing that he had removed his hidden blades before falling asleep.

A quick word of reassurance was offered by the tawny-haired man, and the cloaked one calmed. The wolf took the opportunity of examining the man's features more thoroughly, since his hood was down for once. He had short, black hair, the color as dark as the wolf's own pelt.

Several words passed between the two men. The man in the white robes retrieved his bracers, returned to his friend, and then they both glanced at the wolf, who glared steadily back at them. The wolf noticed the repeated use of several words, but their voices were too quiet for it to decipher them and be certain of what they were saying… Though the creature was smart enough to recognize the lift at the end of their phrases, and remembered this to be an inquiry of some sort. They were talking about it, it realized, and its eyes narrowed even further. Another slight peal of laughter bubbled from the blonde male, and an upward turn of the lips became present on the robed man's features, and the wolf recognized this as a sign happiness of some sort as the man lifted his cowl over his head, and then pulled it down over his eyes as he muttered a few words of caution to his friend. The wolf's gaze followed the man until he closed the door behind him. The blonde said something with an exasperated tone.

The creature's interest was piqued by the fact that the other man stayed behind, though he became wary when the human came forward. It shifted its weight, paws unfurling from under it. Mutterings of comfort came from the human, who slowed his approach. He wisely removed his hands from behind his back, palms open, sleeves falling slightly to reveal that he was hiding nothing. This set the wolf at ease, and the massive animal allowed for the man to run his fingers through its fur. Amusement flickered in its mind as it recognized delight on the human's face. It lowered its head onto its paw, though quickly readjusted the position of its chin so that it wasn't resting on the one with the bandage on it.

It felt the man's hand wander over the bandage around its stomach, the one that covered the wound right below its ribcage… the one the wolf couldn't remember getting. This brought unease to its mind, but it pushed the thought away quickly as it felt pain.

The wolf let out a startled whimper as the bandage tugged at the wound as the blonde man lifted it slightly. Shaking his head, he walked over to the fire and set out a bucket of water over the flames, hanging on the spit that spanned above it. For a small while, the wolf's gaze followed the man as he paced, dozing off…

Warm water being poured onto his bandages brought it from it shallow sleep, and the canine shifted, lifting its head once more.

"Calm, _amico_. _Mi dispiace,_" Leonardo apologized as Ezio jolted awake. "You did not wake when I opened the door… I was…" He paused, and then looked at the ground, embarrassed. The words did not need to be spoken. Leonardo had long ago voiced his concerns that one day someone would poison Ezio without the assassin knowing. It was surprising that it had not happened already, but he would rather not think of his best friend dying.

"Checking my pulse, Leonardo? I'm getting older, but you're older than I am," Ezio replied lightly, the corner of his lips twitching in the beginnings of a smile, but it faded as his friend asked him the question:

"Did you change Argos's bandages?" Leonardo asked.

"Because I'm always changing bandages in my sleep, Leonardo," the assassin sighed sarcastically (though not ignoring the fact that Leonardo had used the name he had given to the wolf), and then went on, walking over to the table and pulling his bracers back onto his wrists, redoing the worn leather buckles, and returning to the tawny-haired man's side.

"No worries, I will change them. You said you have things to do, no?" he said, shrugging nonchalantly. They both looked at Argos.

"_Grazie_, Leonardo. I don't know what I'd do without you. Can you handle him?" he asked warily as he eyed the wolf, who glared back at him.

"Certainly."

"_Leonardo,_" came Ezio's voice, his tone layered with warning.

"The worst thing that could happen is Argos biting off my ring finger, and me having to take yours to replace it," Leonardo said, though a glare from Ezio told him that the assassin did not appreciate his humor at the least, considering the quite cruel prank that the engineer had played on him when he constructed Ezio's hidden blades.

The two friends, practically brothers, shared one last look before Ezio departed. Leonardo shook his head.

"Can you believe him? He thinks you're going to bite me!" Leonardo muttered, to no one in particular, tone slightly sarcastic. He began approaching the wolf, though as the predator eyed him warily, he slowed, bravado flickering.

"Calm, Argos," came his comforting voice, though he briefly wondered if he should be calling the creature _Argas_, or something else feminine, since Ezio had merely assumed the gender beforehand. Returning his attention to his patient and focusing on the task at hand, he decided to show the wolf that he was no threat, realizing that his hands were hidden behind his back. Withdrawing them, he showed the creature his palms, the hems of his sleeves slipping slightly to reveal that he had nothing to hide. Relief, though it was not evident, pulsed through him. It looked like Ezio was keeping his finger… Well, for now, that was.

Gaze trained on the wolf's head, he slowly touched the fur, withdrawing quickly. Upon seeing that the wolf withheld any reaction it may have had, Leonardo placed his hands onto the fur once more, a beautiful, brilliantly amused smile spreading seemingly permanently across his features. Leonardo had never felt such long fur on a living, breathing animal… it was so different from feeling the fur of a skinned animal, though he had only done that once and it was more or less against his immediate will. He smiled, and then used the opportunity to check the bandages. The one on Argos' hindquarters were obviously in need of changing, and he hoped that the cloth hadn't stuck to the wound…

Quickly recoiling as he found that he was not lucky enough for the bandage not to stick, he put some water over the fire, knowing that he would probably have to get the bandages wet. Besides, he would have to clean the wound and change out the pillows on the table anyway, so might as well rinse them while cleaning the wolf's ghastly injuries at the same time. He sat down for a moment after putting the bucket of water above the fire, but soon his mind began to churn and he had to do _something._ He began pacing around the room, fingers resting on his lip as he thought.

What _was_ Ezio going to do with this wolf? They couldn't keep the creature locked up in this place forever. Eventually the poor thing would both go stir crazy or just get angry and try to turn on them. Leonardo was already attached to the wild animal enough, and thinking about Ezio having to kill him… he suppressed the shudder that raced up his spine.

Before he knew it, the water was on the verge of getting too hot, and he jerked himself from his worries in time to pull the pail from over the flame. Leonardo approached the wolf to see that the creature had dozed off, and a smile etched itself onto his face. He began pouring the warm water over the wounds, and couldn't help but sighing.

"Argos, I'm afraid that it's going to be a long day."

It wasn't that it was a stupid creature.

In fact, it was the complete opposite. But considering it spent half of its time with its senses dulled slightly with pain and had never been around humans before in its life before this (it didn't consider the wolf-people to be humans, but monsters), it was hard to understand some aspects of human society.

The man talked to it as he worked with its bandages. The wolf was beginning to pick up on the use of certain words, but was not entirely sure of their meanings. One thing that it did pick up on, though, was that when the man said _Argos_, it meant he was talking about it. When the word wasn't used, though, the wolf left its mind to its own devices, thinking about the robed man and his motives.

Why had he saved it? Why cause so much trouble for him when he could have just left it there to die? Its eyes furrowed. It remembered feeling pain while it—

"Argos?"

At the sound of a recognized word, the wolf was roused from its thoughts, turning its head toward the blonde man, curiosity shining in his eyes as his ears pushed forward. He sat up completely, having found earlier that he could do so without too much pain. Attentive, it watched as the man looked up at the ceiling, but nothing was there. Puzzled, it began to look back at the man, when it heard it.

Footsteps, up above. The wolf believed it could be the hooded man, but the blonde was still at unease, and this brought a feeling called insecurity to the predator of the wild. Insecurity it had not felt since the first time it was rejected by a pack. When the man turned away to face the staircase, the wolf moved off of the table silently, landing on the blanket the blonde man had put on the floor while cleaning its wounds earlier. The beast glanced at the blonde man again, and saw him pick up the knife on the table that had about to use to cut fresh bandages. From the way the man held the knife showed his inexperience. The wolf had watched the people of Romulus use their knives to skin its brothers many times before, and could take a guess on how to hold the weapon. The hulking black wolf limped beside the man, pressing his head against the blonde's knee, and then pressed forward, slipping into the smothering obsidian shadows, and disappearing inside of them. He kept his head low and near the wall so the firelight would not reflect in them.

More footsteps joined the first pair, joined by clinks of armor, and the blonde man seemed to become even more distressed, though remained silent. He began to back away a little, and the wolf wished to go comfort the man that he knew had been trying to help him, but then two figures appeared at the top of the stairway.

The wolf's body froze, his eyes intent on the two heavily-armored men that stood at the top of the landing. They wielded a massive axe, and their footfalls were heavy as they started down the stairs.

Other soldiers flooded past him, sweeping to the middle of the stairs, and within moments, had their guns pointed at the blonde man, who put his hands up and the blade down in surrender.

Nobody threatened the wolf's friends.

Leonardo was initially surprised by the docile nature of the wolf as he poured on the water and removed the bandages, though he knew almost for a fact that it was because he had recognized the assassin. Hopefully, the wolf saw him as friend, either way, and wasn't just waiting for him to do one wrong thing.

Though the wolf only paid attention when Leonardo said his name, the engineer didn't mind talking to him about other things. He talked about Salai, he talked about Ezio, and he talked about why Ezio acted the way he did, and what had happened at Monteriggioni. It felt nice to be able to talk about things he normally could only talk about to Salai, whether or not the wolf could talk back or understand him.

_Thud._

The second that he heard the noise upstairs, dread filled him. Ezio would, on occasion, come through the window upstairs, but Ezio was an assassin for a reason; he didn't go around making noise unless he was severely injured.

"Argos," he murmured, and the wolf turned its head toward him. Footsteps echoed once more, and a creak of that one floorboard that Ezio knew better than to step on. He swallowed, hard, and turned away from Argos, picking up the knife on the table. He had only held a knife several times, and the only experience he had with blades was repairing and making them for Ezio. Using them was entirely different, and it made him cringe.

So caught up in his inner panic, he did not notice Argos slipping from the table and to his side until the wolf pressed his head on his leg and Leonardo nodded slightly, lowering the knife, but still keeping it tightly clenched in his grasp.

Leonardo could only watch as the wolf disappeared into the shadows at the base of the stairs. Adams Apple bobbing as he swallowed again, he winced as he heard the clink of armor upstairs.

Cazzo!came his panicked thoughts, mind racing. _Should have locked that window… Ezio could have picked it, I didn't have to leave it unlocked…._

Brown eyes turning toward the shadows in which Argos was hidden, worry crossed his face.

The staircase suddenly exploded with motion as the gunmen flowed down to the middle of the stairs like water down a hillside, their guns swinging up to face Leonardo. He dropped the knife and put up his hands as the Borgia soldiers' fingers went to the triggers. A heavily-armored brute came into view, standing in the middle of the soldiers.

Black lightning streaked up the stairs, and the first brute tumbled backward. Though Leonardo could not see Argos, he could guess what had happened from the sound of ripping flesh. The brute struggled for a moment, before falling still, twitching on occasion. The soldiers turned their guns onto the wolf, whose snarls thundered from its throat with renewed vigor. The next gunmen went down as he lunged, but as the guns swung to follow him, he did not have the time to rip the man's throat out. He jumped off of the banister through the gaps in the rails, and the bullets of the gunmen went into their own soldier.

Leonardo winced as the wolf landed from its leap. Argos' back legs crumpled under his own weight, and he barely ducked under the next shot that was fired at him. His lips ran over his teeth, lapping at the copper lifeblood that stained them. Standing and doing nothing was not exactly in Leonardo's current agenda. His hand flashed toward the smoke bomb that Ezio had left on the table, and the fragile glass shattered as it was thrown into the floor, and smoke filled the room.


	3. WAR EAGLE

**. A U T H O R ' S | N O T E ; **Hey guys! You wouldn't believe how surprised I was to get on my email and see that people have been adding the story to their favorites, as well as their story alerts! I really appreaciate the support, and if you have anything you want to say, feel free to comment! I didn't even expect anyone to read this darned thing, ahaha. ^^; I'll keep writing, just for you guys, but since the weekdays have come to reap my time again, updates won't be as frequent as they have been in the past two days, though I still write about 1,000 words at school every day in my dopey little spiral notebook. If you notice an error in my _Italiano_, please feel free to point it out. I don't use Google Translate, since I know how unreliable it is; all of my language references I have drawn from the game itself, which I trust more than Google. :3

If you have trouble following the conversations or trains of thought, please throw me a private message. I have this whole thing in a handy-dandy Word Document and it looks a lot more badass than how it does on FFNet. x3 All of the dialogue is color-coated to fit the character, and it much more appealing to the eye and easier to understand. :3 I can also convert and send it as a PDF file. :3 Anyway, I hope that you guys enjoy!

**. r o m u l u s .**

As the man's hands locked around its stomach, the wolf realized that the man planned to flee. Struggling against him to escape wasn't at all hard for it; within moments, some of its original strength returned to its legs, and it was upon the wheezing soldiers, teeth finding throats with the ease of an assassin. The second brute, despite his armor, was as easy to kill as the first, and was dispatched in a similar manner. The wolf's paws pushed the bottom of his helmet up and the plates of his upper armor down enough to give access to the vital vein in the man's throat. By the time the smoke cleared, one remained, having made it up to the top of the staircase, only to be dragged down by the wild animal. The man let out a cry, but it was sharply cut off by jaws closing around his jugular. As the wolf backed away from the body, a single one of its paws slipped off the stair it was on, and it was sent tumbling to the bottom after not having enough strength to stop itself from falling. Slamming into the wall, it slumped to the floor with a pained, tired sigh.

The man stood at the other side of the room, terror in his eyes as he stared at the wolf, but within moments the fear faded and he rushed toward the wolf, hands running over its body. Fresh blood seeped from its previous wounds, but the animal silently bore a new one—a bayonet had stabbed it in the side in the struggle. An angry stream of words left the man's lips, and he tried to stop the bleeding.

At least the blonde man was safe.

Curiosity was, well, an assassin trait.

Curiosity had led to many things in Ezio's life. For example, when he was younger, he would have never wondered if he could jump from the roof of his home and to the adjacent roof across from it. From there, he would have never learned the skill of free-running, or _parkour_, which gave him the physical strength of an assassin without him even knowing it.

Ah, he remembered those days of racing to the church with his brother, soaring over the rooftops, fingers confidently closing on anything that stuck out more than two inches from a wall, for he and his brother had long ago learned that a lack of confidence resulted in a lack of a life because you fell to your death. The man sighed, realizing that once again his trail of thought had led him right back to the despair of losing his family.

_Losing his family._

What to do with Argos… Leonardo was already attached to the damn mutt, which wasn't at all surprised. What had Ezio expected when he brought the engineer in to examine the wounded creature? He seriously should have known better than to even _think_ of telling him about it. Now, perched atop the sun-bleached pillars near the same spot where he had saved Argos, Ezio found himself at a loss.

His mind ended up, once again, wandering to the fact that this creature knew how to kill. It made him curious as to what else the intriguing animal could do. It was obvious that the wolf was—well, had been—in top physical condition to survive that long with that sort of rare pelt. It was either that, or the damned thing was clever, and both traits were interesting.

_Nothing is true, everything is permitted._

Could he? Could Argos?

Turning away from the ruins, he jumped down from his perch, walking back into the depths of the city.

The pigeon, used to its job, knew better than to try and struggle against Ezio's grasp, and instead was silent as he removed the message from around the avian's leg, and then replaced the bird in its coop with the others. Unfurling the parchment, his eyes were met by a familiar, eloquent scrawl he recognized from numerous pages of the deciphered Codex pages. As his brain took in the single word, he crumpled the paper in his fist, and lunged down the street.

-._Borgia.-_

This time a man came down the stairs, it was a face that Leonardo wanted to see. Ezio stopped halfway down as he was met by the piled bodies at the bottom stair, and only had to look at the wolf on the table to take a guess at what had happened. Within moments he had joined Leonardo in front of the table, taking note of his boot crunching small shards of shattered glass as he came near.

Blood. There was so much blood. Even for an assassin, it was startling to see so much blood under such a creature. Even now, more continued to flow, and Leonardo's eyes were shining with moisture as he continued to cover the wounds with wet towels, only to toss them aside as they quickly became soaked. Luckily, Ezio had reached the pigeon coop just as the bird settled with the message, and the wolf hadn't been pouring out its crimson lifeblood for as long as Ezio had thought, though the blood that coated almost everything in a five-foot radius of the animal was still a bit… frightening.

"Leonardo," Ezio said, the worried tone of his voice all that was needed to sum up his pressing question.

"He—I…" Leonardo buried his face in his hands, shuddering with guilt.

"_Leonardo_," Ezio growled firmly, hand rising to grip Leonardo's shoulder and pull the engineer to face him. He pulled the engineer's hands away from his blood-splattered features, tipping his chin up to force him to look the assassin in the eye. "Now is not the time for guilt and grief. Tell me what happened." This seemed to be enough to sufficiently pull the man from his delirium.

"The Borgia came through the upstairs window, Ezio, and we both heard it and Argos attacked them when they all pointed guns at me. I tried to escape with him after using a smoke bomb but he got away and one of the bayonets got him, and it's punctured an artery and—"

Ezio had to resort to shaking the man again to bring him out of his blubbering and make some sense. "Leonardo, you're practically a doctor. Could you not have done _something_?"

"Not without someone to hold Argos down and he ripped through anything I tried to strap him down with and oh dio, Ezio, I think he's going into shock…!" Leonardo cried, as the wolf began convulsing.

"It's all my fault."

"Get ahold of yourself, _Leonardo_! The damned mutt isn't dead yet!"

"That damned _mutt_ saved my life, Ezio!"

"But blaming yourself for it won't make him any better!"

The engineer could find no way to deny those words, but glared. They had managed to keep Argos from dying from the shock, and stop the bleeding. Was it his imagination, or was the wolf's pulse growing fainter and fainter each time Leonardo checked it? He couldn't be sure anymore. His racing heartbeat could easily make up in any lack of the wolf's pulse, if it were possible. The usually collected scientist found himself quickly falling apart. He settled back down on the bench, elbows on his knees and forehead cradled in his palms.

He wouldn't be able to bear the guilt if his newest friend died because of him.

If anything, Ezio should feel guiltier by far, since the Borgia had probably came after Leonardo because of his involvement with the assassin, but Ezio was far past guilt. It was an emotion he had long ago learned to ignore altogether, with the blood of his enemies and the blood of innocent guards, who were only doing their job, thick on his hands.

"Ezio!"

The assassin turned so quickly that his cape almost swept everything off of the table parallel to the one in which the wolf lay on. He stepped toward the cushioned furniture to see the wolf staring at him, eyes half-lidded with pain. Ezio kneeled to stare the wolf in the eye, left hand stroking the matted fur on the animal's neck. Leonardo lowered himself to the assassin's side.

The canine's jaws opened and closed tenderly around Ezio's bracer, licking the top where his teeth had left light indents the day before. Ezio scratched the wolf's ear, a rare smile coming to his face, though it was a sad smile, one that Leonardo was used to seeing.

"He saved my life," Leonardo whispered. "He can't just… die… after all of that…" he murmured, laying his forehead against the edge of the table, his beret slipping off of his head and onto the ground. He didn't make a move to pick it up. Ezio replied with silence, patting his friend on the back, and then draped his arm over Leonardo's shoulder comfortingly, knowing how sensitive the man was. The wolf's eyes closed once more as he slipped back into his slumber, and the engineer leaned his head against Ezio's arm, shaking his head.

There was silence for a while, but it was ended by Ezio's voice as he rose to his feet.

"I'll go scout for some other place for Argos to stay," Ezio announced gravely, his voice hard. As Leonardo opened his mouth to protest, he silenced him with a shake of his head. "I'll tell _La Volpe_ to send spies to find out who ordered the attack, and to post some thieves around the building."

They stared each other for a moment, Leonardo's lips slightly ajar with a lingering whisper of vehement protest. A million messages passed between them, through their eyes. A mix of please be careful's and _don't do anything stupid_'s and _don't let them catch you_'s, all in a matter of seconds. Leonardo's worry and Ezio's determination sparred, and then warred, a battle of wills. Legions of don't _die on_ _me_'s and _don't try to stop me_'s struck each other with crippling force, swords of gold and blue crashing together until the blue of the assassin's threw the gold of the engineer's aside, and the will of the blonde man crippled within moments.

A sigh escaped Leonardo's lips at the same time Ezio turned away and strode towards the door, sword clinking against the metal on his armor. He paused, his hand resting on the doorknob.

"Just remember, Leonardo…" came his deep, rumbling voice, undertones layered with concern and reassurance. "If he dies… he will die because he saved my brother."

A swish of his cape and the soft creak of a turning knob, and he was gone.

And so it dreamed.

It dreamed of a happy past. Soft, pastel colors filled his unconscious vision, and warm images of a family flooded its mind. Its mind was cleansed from the pain, all of its worries washing away and leaving a warm, sensual residue behind, leaving the wolf feeling as if it were… new, again. As if it were a pup in a meadow, playing by its siblings. It felt wonderful.

Then the world came crashing down.

A startled whimper escaped its lips as it slipped from its unconscious state, pain assaulting its mind in a sudden ambush of agony. The amount of happiness in the dream it awoke from paled in comparison to the pain from its many wounds. Its head moved upward, a soft, mournful howl pushing past its stubborn attempts at silence, until comforting hands came to rest on the uninjured portions of its sides. Lids flashed upwards to reveal pools of liquid auburn, pupils of agony-filled coal sweeping to take in brown orbs under a brow furrowed with concern, a set of eloquent fingers sweeping away tawny locks. The wolf looked into the eyes of the man whose life he saved and was overwhelmed by the racing display of feelings that passed through the human's gaze in a matter of seconds. Pain, shock, relief, dread, guilt, and then more relief flashed in a constant cycle in his eyes, until he looked away.

_Leonardo._

The name came quickly to the wolf's mind as it recognized the human calling that had been used many times by the hooded man to address the blonde. The hooded man… what had Leonardo said so many times?

_Enzio? Elzio? Elzio? Was it Elzio?_The margin of error of the creature's memory was proving quite irritating to it, unfortunately. Blinking, it turned its eyes about, and then realizing where it was, its fur rose and a growl thundered from its chest before the resulting pain made it stop. A calming set of words flowed from Leonardo's mouth, and heard the name mentioned again.

_Ezio__._ But why was Leonardo talking about Ezio when he wasn't here? Where was Ezio? It'd seen him, it knew it had. Its gaze moved about, and the creature whimpered, and the blonde ruffled its fur reassuringly. He seemed nervous, but was more at ease than he was before, and that satisfied the wolf. Though something _did_ seem to be troubling him, or something was just on his mind.

Leonardo had been called 'friend' or 'old friend' time after time; it never failed to serve as the assassin's regular greeting for the engineer, and a time or two he had told him he was like a brother… but never _a_ brother, never _making_ a direct reference. And now that he had, Leonardo couldn't help but feel like a lucky person. He knew how hard for Ezio to call someone a friend… after Cristina and Caterina and Mario and all of the other people he had lost or all of the other people that had betrayed him. Assassins did not exactly trust easily by nature, and the only people Ezio Auditore trusted easily were pretty women. But for Ezio to call him a brother—that was shocking to Leonardo all in itself. It was something that had too deep of a meaning to describe in words. Ezio, the boy who was forced abruptly out of the rest of his youth and shoved into the world of adulthood by the death of his fathers and brothers, thought of Leonardo da Vinci, the engineer and scientist and all-around know-it-all, _as a brother_. Leonardo da Vinci, the vegetarian artist, was best friends with Ezio Auditore, the vengeful assassin. What a pair to be brothers.

To others, it was a little thing, but to Leonardo… it was everything. If anything, it made him stronger and more determined to keep the wolf alive. He lapsed into the habit of checking the unconscious creature's vital signs every couple of minutes or so, and between checking them he looked for books in the building that could tell him anything at all about their anatomy. If there was one thing that Ezio had been surprised about when he brought Leonardo to the wolf, it had been Leonardo's lack of knowledge in the subject of canine anatomy.

The wolf woke just as Leonardo found a scroll, written by a Russian fur trader, about the behavior of wolves. The man was at Argos' side in moments, calming him with gentle, comforting hands as the wolf wailed from, what seemed to Leonardo, a bad dream, though he did not know that the case was the exact opposite of his assumptions. Through the pain, the wolf's eyes showed recognition, before sweeping over the room around him.

"Ezio's gone to find a different place to stay," he murmured, though his common sense told him that the wolf didn't understand him at the least. He sighed and opened the scroll, his free hand running comfortingly through Argos' fur.

"The Borgia attacked the building that Leonardo was staying in."

He closed the door of their meeting room with more force than he had originally intended, pace brisk as he strode forward, toward a man in dark orange robes with an earth-brown cape and strange eyes that glowed from the shadows of his hood.

"And the wolf saved him."

"How did you know?" Ezio inquired, his voice low, slightly wary.

"Ezio, Ezio," _La Volpe_ said, a soft chuckle slipping from his lips. "When a spy comes to me with news that the Borgia attacked Leonardo, and then reports that they never left the building, we know that he's either being held hostage or someone else was there, because we know Leonardo can barely hold a knife right." His shoulders rolled nonchalantly, but he smiled. "Besides, I don't think that you or Leonardo can make a snarl terrifying enough to make one of my best spies almost soil himself…"

Ezio could not help but smile slightly at this, but before he could go on, _La Volpe_ continued.

"Did you move Leonardo to a safer place?"

"After the wolf wiped out everyone, I believe that the Borgia will take a day or two to reconsider any planned attacks." Waving off the matter, he went on, his lips becoming a solid, serious line as he addressed _La Volpe_ once more.

"So you know who did this?"

"Cesare, rampaging in his little tirade to stop the assassin who has been successfully sabotaging the control he thought that he would never lose."

"_Cazzo_. Do you know where he is?"

"No, but we're working on it."

"_Molto bene, grazie, La Volpe_," Ezio murmured, and the renowned leader of the thieves offered a nod in response.

"You were looking for a place for Leonardo and il Lupo to stay?"

"_Si_. Preferably someplace where Leonardo can have help looking after the mutt; Leonardo's been stressing out over him non-stop."

"Ezio, that mutt sa—"

"I know, Leonardo made that very clear."

Dismissing the subject, _La Volpe_ continued. "Leonardo and il Lupo—"

"Argos," Ezio corrected, before he could stop himself.

"Va bene, Argos," the man said, eyebrow rising curiously. "Leonardo and Argos can stay here at the guild."

"_La Volpe_."

"—seeing as it is the safest place for them. What are you worried about?" _La Volpe_ added, his knowing smile met by Ezio's seething glare. He went on. "You're too protective of him. Besides, he may learn a few things. Some self-defense would be beneficial, no?"

"If he gets hurt…" Ezio snarled, both of them knowing very well the array of threats that he could dish out and _mean it_ as he trailed off, leaving it to the imagination.

"I know. I assure you, he'll be fine. Do not worry, Ezio. You underestimate him far too much, assassino. You of all people should know better than to underestimate any human being."

Ezio's eyes narrowed dangerously, but he nodded.

"_Grazie_ for your help, _La Volpe_. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"If only you knew," he murmured as Ezio departed, a dark chuckle preceding a knowing sigh.

Something was amiss.

The moment the robed man… no, Ezio, walked into the room, a hurried set of urgent words were exchanged before all hell broke loose.

There was only a moment of notice as the sound of a firing gun splintered the silence that had fallen at the sound of a creaking floorboard. Ezio shoved Leonardo out of the way just in time, the bullet missing his head by a hair's breadth. A returning shot echoed and a bullet flew into the man's chest, sailing from Ezio's hidden gun, and the assassin pulled the artist toward the door.

It scrambled to its paws, only for it to slip off of the table with a painful _thud_. Guns turned on it as it made an attempt to rise from its paws, only for the pain to overtake it and make it fall once more.

Leonardo struggled against Ezio's grasp, but the assassin firmly pulled him away. Despite this, the engineer broke away in another attempt to go after the wolf as Ezio dragged him outside, only to trip over a cobblestone that jutted from the earth. The other man caught him before he fell, and much to the additional bewilderment of the citizens outside, he slung him over his shoulder and took off down the road.

"Leave it here, it'll die anyway!" the Borgia captain growled, watching as a soldier slammed the hilt of his sword against the wolf's head, and it fell to the ground once more, ceasing its struggle.

Matches were lit and thrown into piles of paper. The flames caught on and licked hungrily at the kindle, racing and leaping up the walls and bookcases on its quest for fuel. As the soldiers left the building, their laughter echoing, the wolf squirmed toward the water basin that had been left out near the fireplace, the inferno roaring beside it, racing it toward the metal bowl…

He stared into the flames, and yet, he didn't. Though his gaze rested upon the glowing embers of the dancing blaze, his mind rested elsewhere. His mind rested beside the blood-stained table, still tending to the injured wolf that had saved his life.

"Leonardo, it was either you or Argos," Ezio sighed from the other side of the fire.

"I could have saved him," came the stubborn reply.

"You could have gotten _shot_ and _died_ with him."

Silence. Thoughts churned inside two completely different minds, until one was brought to the assassin's attention.

"Where's Salai?"

"Gambling, where else?"

The miserable bitterness surprised Ezio. He looked around the ruins. They had managed to find a small clearing, using Ezio's Eagle Vision in the darkness, for on this night the clouds had swallowed the moon whole, throwing the land under a cover of tar.

"Why didn't we go to _La Volpe_'s guild?"

"The Borgia launched two attacks today. Two parties of soldiers set out and attacked at the same time. One of the thieves coming inside the guild as I was leaving warned me of the attack. I came as soon as I could."

Though Leonardo's bitterness came from his grief, he knew that Ezio would probably beat himself up over it later. The assassin trained his sight on the engineer, who was shivering, leaning against the cold rock of the pillar behind him, farther away from the heat of the fire than Ezio.

"Leonardo, you're going to get sick. Get closer to the fire. I don't care if you stay on that side or not, as long as you don't fall ill. I'm no reason for you to be bedridden by hypothermia."

_I'm surprised you know what that means,_ was Leonardo's bitter mental response, but he knew better, and held his tongue. He took a moment to consider this, and decided that he was being childish and irrational. Ezio probably felt just as bad as he did, though he didn't show it. Leonardo picked himself up from his sitting position and dragged himself over to Ezio's side of the fire. He hesitated at the pillar adjacent to the assassin, and then moved over to Ezio's side with a defeated sigh. The blonde man settled next to the hooded other.

"_Mi dispiace_, Ezio… I just feel horrible, like I've lost a good friend."

"You liked him that much?" Ezio asked curiously, brow arching.

"I've never had a pet before."

"Your idea of a pet both intrigues and worries me, Leonardo."

"_Si_, though I know very well that Argos was a killer."

"If Argos was a killer and you thought of him as a pet, what does that make me?" Ezio asked, eyes narrowed, though his tone was weaved with a bit of playfulness, trying to lighten the mood.

"You two were alike in more ways than you know."

"Leonardo, what are you suggesting?"

"What is there to suggest? She's dead."

Ezio paused, thinking, and then did a mental double-take.

"_She_?"

"Before we left and the Borgia attacked, I forgot to tell you that you were wrong…" Leonardo said, his voice trailing off, and Ezio noted his fading voice with curiosity, but did not question it.

Ezio frowned. He was about to reply when he felt a weight on his shoulder. The middle-aged man glanced over to find that Leonardo had fallen asleep, the engineer's head coming to rest on his battle-scarred spaulders. Lips turning upward in a slight smile, Ezio draped his arm and his cape around the other's shoulders, glad to still have the one he knew as a brother, though the price was unfortunate.

As the fire exhausted its supply of dry wood and books and scrolls, it slowly died, embers smothered by townsfolk trying to secure the safety of their own homes. Neighboring houses bore the ugly scorches of their brother's demise, woodchips peeling and falling every once in a while like solid tears of sorrow. Then, as the last of the splinters fell, a deathly calm fell over the ruins, and all signs of life faded…

**. A U T H O R ' S | N O T E** ; For those of you who noticed how, when I was in the wolf's third-person POV, I used "it" instead of "he", and came to the conclusion that they were wrong about the gender, brownie points for you! ^^; Feel free to point out any inaccurate facts you find, whether it be with the _Italiano_ or the aspects of the game. No guaruntee that I'll change the errors in facts about the game if it turns out to be something major, but I'll try! ^^; Thank you guys, please comment and rate! Critiques would be excellent, considering I'm new to the whole fanfiction thing. :3 Feel free to check out my deviantART was well! My username is WWotS!


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